Blue-faced Honeyeater

The Blue-faced Honeyeater paints a pretty picture, posing here on the aptly named 'Bird Of Paradise' plant like a professional model; looking three quarters right to catch the nice light.

In photographing these birds I wanted to capture another quality: an expression that says "what is everyone doing and why are they in my way?". Beyond their striking beauty, they can be abrasive both to humans and other birds. They will aggressively swoop on food, bully other birds, and get up to all sorts of nuisance.

If I'm being honest, and keeping in mind that I love all birds - they're kinda assholes. I define assholes as those who act only with self-interest, in a way that negatively impacts their surrounds. And yes, a reality of life is that we will encounter many assholes.

People will be rude, people will insult us and bother us, people will toot their horns at us, and it's natural to be triggered by such people.

Negative energy can be wildly contagious. If we can be present enough not to react in the moment, and not take on the negative energy of others, we can keep our calm disposition. We see there’s a space between stimulus and response, and one of our great powers is that we actually have a choice in how we respond to things.

Is there someone who gets under your skin? Or that brings you down with selfishness and negativity? Could you benefit from not reacting, taking a breath, letting them keep their negativity, and letting yourself be?